Born December 31, 1918 in Gondar, Ethiopia, Dr. Yosef Alfredo
Antonio ben-Jochannan, or "Dr. Ben", as he is affectionately known)
has devoted the better part of his life to the illumination of the
indigenous origins of African civilizations. By profession, he is a trained
lawyer, engineer, historian and
Egyptologist. Ben-Jochannan went to Egypt for the first time in 1939, and
moved to Harlem, New York in 1945. Dr. Ben knew Malcolm X personally, and
was a student and colleague of George G.M. James. He was exceptionally close
to the late Dr. John Henrik Clarke. Since 1957, he has coordinated
regular study tours and pilgrimages to the Nile Valley, directly exposing
thousands of African people to the still visible splendors of ancient Egypt.
Formerly adjunct professor at Cornell University's Africana Studies
Department, Dr. ben-Jochannan has also been a professor-at-large at Al Azar
University in Cairo.

While now advanced in years, Dr. Ben continues to wield tremendous
influence on African studies. He is indeed one of the most unrelenting
twentieth century advocates of the African origins of Nile Valley
civilizations and the African origins of Western religions. By his own
account, he has prepared seventy-five manuscripts for publication, and was
working on another during his 1997 tour. He is the author of more than
twenty books, including African Origins of the Major Western Religions in
1970, Africa: Mother of Western Civilization in 1971, Black Man of the Nile
and His Family in 1972, A Chronology of the Bible: A Challenge to the
Standard Version in 1973, The African Called Rameses ("The Great") II and
the African Origin of Western Civilization in 1990. Several of his works
have gone through a number of reprints and different editions, and although
controversial, all of them are well-documented. As pointed by Dr. Leonard
Jeffries:

A chronology of the Bible (first published in 1972) is perhaps his most
popular work. Originally prepared at the request of a group of Harlem-based
ministers, Chronology documents the African origins of Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam. Dr. Ben traces significant influences,
developments, and people that have shaped and provided the foundation for
the holy books used in these religions.

The third book in a 3-book volume set, The Need for a Black Bible is a
companion volume to African Origins of the Major western Religions and The
Myth of Genesis and Exodus and the Exclusion of Their African Origins. These
three volumes were originally published as the 3-volume set The Black Man's
Religion and are available separately for the first time. The Black Man's
Religion is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to gain a better
understanding of belief systems in the Western World.

African Origins of the Major "Western Religions" first published in 1970,
continues to be one of Dr. Ben's most thought-provoking works. This critical
examination of the history, beliefs and myths, remains instructive and
fresh. By highlighting the African influences and roots of these religions,
Dr. Ben reveals an untold history that many would prefer to froget.

The second book in a 3-volume set, The Myth of Genesis and Exodus and the
Excursion of Their African Origins is a companion volume to African Origins
of the Major Western Religions and The Need for a Black Bible . These three
volumes were originally published as a 3-volume set The Black Man's Religion
and are available separately for the first time. The Black Man's Religion is
an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to gain a better understanding of
belief systems in the Western World.

Dr. Ben destroys the myth of a "white Jewish race" and the bigotry that has
denied the existence of an African Jewish culture. He establishes the
legitimacy of contemporary Black Jewish culture in Africa and the diaspora
and predates its origin before ancient Nile Valley civilizations.

Few of Dr. Ben's books are written with co-authors. The Black Man's North
and East Africa is an exception. Written with one of his early colleagues,
George E. Simmonds, this work attacks the racist manipulation of African and
Black history by 'educators' and 'authorities on Africa'. Defenders of the
Africans' right to tell their own story, the authors insist that Black
people must take responsibility for their own history, "Until African
(Black) people are willing, and do write their own experience, past, and
present, we will continue being slaves, mentally, physically, and
spiritually, to Caucasian and Semitic racism and religious
bigotry."1971*,2005. 96 pp. illus.

Black Man of the Nile and His Family, first published in 1972, is Dr.
Ben’s best known work. It captures much of the substance of his early
research on Ancient Africa. In a masterful and unique manner, Dr. Ben uses
Black Man of the Nile to challenge and expose “Europeanized” African
history. He points up distortion after distortion made in the long record of
African contributions to world civilization. Once exposed, he attacks these
distortions with a vengeance, providing a spellbinding corrective lesson in
OurStory.

Dr. Ben provides readers with an important and foundational history of
Africa, written from a decisively African perspective. Black Man of the Nile
is reprinted in its entirely, along with a new selected bibliography and an
extensive name and subject index.